What is the new Canal ferry terminal bridge's 'video board?' Officials elaborate

The details of a possible "video board" package costing upwards of $2 million for the new downtown ferry terminal's footbridge came into sharper focus Tuesday night (Dec. 12), as architects and other decision-makers convened a meeting to soften public concerns.

Officials also unveiled final designs for the new terminal, which is set to replace the current 37-year-old terminal at the base of Canal Street. The old terminal is tentatively scheduled for demolition around Mardi Gras 2018, and construction on the full project was estimated Tuesday to likely take between 12 and 14 months to complete.

Draft budgets for the bridge have included a line item called either "Add LED" or "Add Video Board," tallying between $1.5 million and $2 million. Officials last month waffled on how to describe that line item, offering descriptors from "video, lighting and art" to "signage and decorative features."

Architect Ray Manning, whose firm has been tapped to design the bridge, likened the line item Tuesday to more of a "lifelike" art mural consisting of "sophisticated technical boards" for the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, on whose property the bridge has been proposed to be located. Manning, addressing around 50 meeting attendees, said the potential feature wouldn't display advertising or any gaudy lights "like Las Vegas."

"It was the idea that you would be actually looking at the shark tank and you would see schools of fish, perhaps," Manning said Tuesday. "You would be seeing some activity in the actual aquarium, or some whale scenes from some locations from around the world."

"It wasn't ever intended to be a lighted board," he continued. "It was more of a visual board."

The bridge, for which around $7.4 million has been earmarked so far, has stoked public ire for nearly a year after transit officials unveiled plans in January for the terminal rebuild project that did not include a replacement for the existing pedestrian overpass spanning the riverfront train tracks. The New Orleans City Council, in March, secured a pledge from the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority and its managerial firm, Transdev, that a new bridge would be built.

Several months later, in October, Mayor Mitch Landrieu's office announced funding had been secured for the bridge. But public tempers have flared anew over the bridge since the announcement, particularly following revelations that the bridge may not come with any overhead coverage while draft budgets have allocated money to features like the video board.

Ferry riders and their advocates have long called for such coverage to shield commuters against weather, such as what the existing walkway for the old terminal currently has.

"We should at a minimum, out of the new facility, get what we've got now," Eric Songy, chairman of the Algiers Neighborhood Presidents Council, said Tuesday. "At least what we have, but with everything working and being ADA-compliant."

Manning, along with Audubon's president, Ron Forman, stressed Tuesday that nothing has been set in stone for the bridge, including location. Manning did, however, say that among four potential locations, his firm believes the site on Audubon's property would make the most sense technically, financially and aesthetically.

Manning also indicated the site's location may be a foregone conclusion, given Audubon's involvement: He said Audubon is involved because that potential location is on Audubon property.

"So they have some obviously fiduciary responsibilities to ensure that whatever we build does not negatively impact their very sizable investment in terms of the aquarium," Manning said Tuesday.

An agreement that officials say would hand authority over the bridge's location design, and construction to Audubon is pending City Council approval. Manning Architects is contracted with RTA for the design, Transdev and Audubon officials confirmed last month.

Several meeting attendees Tuesday raised questions as to why Audubon has say in a capital project ostensibly meant for RTA ferry riders. As it stands, funding for the estimated $7.4 million bridge will be divvied up three ways: $1.4 million from RTA, $900,000 from the New Orleans Building Corporation and $5 million from the city. Audubon is not expected to provide funding.

Kristen Gisleson Palmer, who was recently reelected as councilwoman representing Algiers and the French Quarter, said Tuesday that she plans to seek a more thorough accounting of where the city's portion of the funding will originate.

"My only concern is, with the funding sources, that we're guaranteed as a community that the project is fully funded before it starts construction," Palmer said. "And that it doesn't come from any existing funding source that could be taken away from the other side of the river from other projects."

Forman, for his part, asserted that Audubon did "not prefer to" have the bridge built on its property. Rather, Forman said Audubon agreed to host the bridge as part of a larger vision to open up and beautify the riverfront area amid several upcoming development projects.

"We want something that's going to be something we're all proud of at the foot of Canal Street," Forman said Tuesday. "What it is, we have no idea."

A second public meeting on the bridge will be held on Jan. 18 in Algiers.